The present invention relates to a cover and, more particularly, to a washable, stretchable, flexible, vinyl fabric cover for enclosing an adjustable arm assembly as used in a hospital or nursing home for supporting a television receiver for viewing by a patient.
In a co-pending patent application of Gordon B. Stanley, Ser. No. 562,268, now abandoned, assigned to the same there is described in detail an adjustable arm assembly which is used to support a television receiver for viewing by a viewer such as a patient in a hospital or nursing home. As described in detail in the aforementioned patent application, the adjustable arm assembly is attached via a mounting bracket to a vertical support structure such as a wall and includes a forward pair of elongated arms and a rearward pair of elongated arms. Each of the pairs of arms includes an upper arm and a lower arm. The forward and rearward pairs of arms are pivotally connected at adjacent ends thereof to a central pivot plate arrangement by which the forward and rearward pairs of arms are able to move with respect to each other. The other ends of the forward pair of arms are pivotally connected to a front pivot plate arrangement to which a television receiver is coupled by means of an adjustable swivel attachment, and the other ends of the rearward pair of arms are pivotally attached to a rear pivot plate arrangement to which a coupling member is fixedly attached for interconnecting the arm assembly with a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket in turn is attached to the vertical supporting structure at a predetermined height from the level of the floor.
A television receiver supported by the arm assembly is maintained in a positive, drift-free, stable location at any one of several possible heights or distances from the mounting bracket by means of a plurality of pairs of load-compensated helical springs variously connected to the forward and rearward pairs of arms and to the front, central and rear pivot plate arrangements. The arm assembly is capable of movement within a large number of possible planes and of subtending an angle of at least 135.degree. in moving between its uppermost position and its lowermost position.
While the abovedescribed adjustable arm assembly has simple and esthetically pleasing lines, by virtue of its simple, uncluttered design, it has been found desirable in some hospital and nursing home installations to provide a cover for such an arm assembly so that the arm assembly will blend with existing hospital decor. In addition, such a cover has been found desirable to prevent the accumulation of dust or other foreign matter in the various parts of the arm assembly, particularly the coils of the springs, thereby reducing the amount of cleaning maintenance required by the arm assembly. One form of cover which has been used successfully to enclose an arm assembly as described hereinabove is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,916,967, in the names of Neil K. Carlisle and James L. Pettee and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. The cover as described in the above patent includes a pair of generally-flat, generally-rectangular, flexible elongated sections of a preferably vinyl-cloth material and a flat sheet of a material such as stretch fabric joining corresponding first end portions of the elongated sections, the opposite end portions of the elongated sections being cup-like in configuration. The elongated sections further include slide fasteners, in the form of zippers, at the side edges thereof for use in completely enclosing the cover around the arm assembly. The arm assembly is enclosed by the cover as described hereinabove by positioning the elongated sections of the cover along the arms of the arm assembly and positioning the cup-like end portions of the sections with respect to the front and rear pivot plate arrangements to cup around and tightly grip the ends of these pivot plate arrangements. The latter operations are facilitated by the fact that the sheet of stretch material joining the elongated sections of the cover can be readily stretched by pulling the elongated sections in opposite directions from each other. Once the elongated sections of the cover have been made to generally surround the arms and pivot plate arrangements of the arm assembly, the edges of the sections are drawn together by use of the slide fasteners at these edges. The arm assembly may then be placed in any one of several possible operating positions with the cover accommodating each operating position of the arm assembly by virtue of the stretching capabilities of the sheet of stretch material.
While the cover as described hereinabove has been used successfully as mentioned hereinabove, the repeated and prolonged use of the arm assembly and the consequential repeated stretching of the sheet of stretch material has the effect of causing the sheet of stretch material to repeatedly rub against the central pivot plate arrangement and, in time, to become frayed. Further, is certain operating positions of the arm assembly, particularly those in which the arms of the arm assembly form small acute angles with respect to each other, it is possible for small portions of the sheet of stretch material, which overlies the central pivot plate arrangement, to become exposed and visible to a user, thereby detracting from the overall appearance of the cover.